Moscow, Russia

After the evenings train trip we arrived in the capital, Moscow. We shared a sleeper cabin with Lee & Nat & it was pretty cost. Yesterday was very hot & we were out all day exploring around St Petersburg, before jumping on the train with no shower. Arriving in Moscow we were all feeling pretty feral but not much we could do as check-in at the hotel wasn't until later in the day. Following our tour leader Anastasia we left the station about 9am, met our Moscow guide & boarded a bus to be taken into the centre of the city. Here we had breaky at a shopping centre before walking to the site we had all come to see, Red Square. I remember when I was young seeing Soviet military parades through the red square on tv with tanks & missiles & thousands of troops marching in step. Back then the place seemed so scary, so untouchable, so mysterious, so far away. And yet here we were now, standing on the exact spot where this all happened, right in the middle of the nations capital. It was very hot but that didn't matter as we were all excited to be in this place. To the north of the square was the big red building of the State Historical Museum, to the east the huge Gum department store, to the west the big red walls that border the Kremlin with Lenins tomb in front, & to the south the multicolored beauty of Saint Basil's Cathedral. It is an amazing square & one that just oozes power. After an hour we headed into Saint Basil's Cathedral, but it wasn't anywhere near as impressive as the one we had seen in St Petersburg. We were guided through there pretty quickly before returning to the square. A giant electrical storm had started to turn the sky black & we would experience plenty of thunder & lightning over the next few hours. At least it would make the temperature drop. We returned to our bus & began a driving tour around the sprawling metropolis of Moscow as we got to see many stupidly humungous buildings from the communist era. About 2pm we began the drive to our hotel but got caught in the typical traffic jam that happens daily here. I guess 16 lane roads just aren't enough to keep the city moving. It ending up taking over an hour to get to the hotel with most of us sleeping. Even I managed to get some sleep as evidenced by the patch of drool that had been forming on my chest. Finally we arrived at the hotel. We though St Petersburg's hotel was big, but that had nothing on this monstrosity. 3000 rooms, so in theory 6000 people, could be accommodated here. That's just crazy. Once we were checked-in I'm sure everyone did the same as us, showers then snooze time. It was great to be clean again & catch up on some z's. About 7pm we woke & showered again, just to be extra clean, then made our way to the lobby & the meeting place for our group. We all headed to the city for dinner on the metro with our tour leader. Well thank god she was there as it is not an easy metro to navigate as it is obviously all in Russian. There is no semblance of English to be seen anywhere. Even our leader had to ask a few times. At least it will make it a challenge to get to the airport when we leave. After eating at the restaurant darkness had descended on Moscow which is a welcome change after the last few nights up north. We were led over the road & back into Red Square. Now during the day the square is pretty impressive, & yet it has nothing on the spectacle at night. Once everything is all lit up then the colours really create an amazing sight. It enabled us to take a plethora of magnificent photos to capture the moment. As midnight approached it was time to return to the confusion of the metro & head back home, stopping to grab some bottled water & an ice cream. It has been a long day but after seeing Red Square, twice, I think it has definately been worth it. Another one to mark from the list.